


Fated Meeting

by VaansAbs



Category: Final Fantasy XIII Series, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Genre: F/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:48:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27222982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VaansAbs/pseuds/VaansAbs
Summary: After the defeat of Bhunivelze, everyone's memories have been 'locked', and they've become separated from one another. Two lovers find themselves again in the New World in a place least would expect - a simple bus stop.
Relationships: Serah Farron/Snow Villiers
Kudos: 16





	Fated Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Another oldie, but a goodie. This was also a prompt request like my last Snerah fic. This one, however, takes place after Lightning Returns. The original was written prior to the LR novel's release and I wanted to keep that in my rewrite. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

It was too early. Too early for mini Miss Serah Farron as she stumbled to hit the snooze button on her alarm clock. She had to be in class two hours earlier than normal because of a class project. This particular project was one she took great pride and pleasure in as a history major, but it was soon becoming a frustrating one. It was over the history of their city, Littus, and she was in charge of researching the founder and original settlers of the city, but so far she was having no such luck and it baffled her. Her partners were having trouble too. Every time the group thought they had struck gold, it was anything but. They were at a major roadblock. Everything that they needed to know (or wanted to in Serah’s case) was just missing. It always came up blank, empty, almost as if the records had been wiped clean.

‘Maybe today will be different. Maybe we’ll finally strike gold.’ She thought as she got dressed in a grey sweater with a rose embroidered on the front, and white pants. Her bag, full of the materials she had gathered so far from the past ten years on Littus, sat waiting for her near her front door. She didn’t want to miss her bus and resolved to eat on campus. Soon, she was out the door and rushing towards the bus stop that was a block away, still worrying that she'd be late.

By the time she reached the bus stop, she found out that she was early, so early that there was someone sitting in her spot on the nearby bench. Shy as she was, she slowed down and began to approach the man. Being someone who didn't like to talk to strangers, often worrying that they could be someone malicious, her fists clenched at her sides. What to do? Maybe she should just ignore it and move on with her life? But her seat! He was in her spot! That spot was special! Sacred! It was where she had first come up with the idea for her group’s project! 

There was no time for dilly-dallying.

"Um… Excuse me, sir? You're in my seat."

The sound of her voice was quiet, but enough to alert the stranger to her presence and when he looked up, he smiled, softly.

"Oh. I'm sorry." He moved over and said, "It's just no one is usually around at this time of day."

Serah plopped down into her seat, placing her hands in her lap. Her bag pressed up against her as she leaned back ever so slightly. "Y-yeah. Everyone is usually asleep right now…."

"But not you," He smiled at her again.

She blushed. "But not me." And then Serah found herself chuckling. "Well… Neither are you. Why are you up so early, anyways? You look like someone who should still be asleep right now."

It was true. The man's blond hair was all over the place it seemed. He was dressed in a dark blue turtleneck that fit him snugly (a little too snugly Serah thought), and a pair of black denim jeans and brown work boots. His outfit only seemed to highlight all of his muscles, and she felt her cheeks burn bright red, and quickly looked away, but not before he noticed.

He laughed. "I'm up early because I have a job interview, and you're up early because…." He drew out the last word.

Looking her over, he noticed that this girl was very pretty and seemed almost nostalgic to him like he had seen her somewhere before. But how could he? They’d never met before this moment. But something seemed to tickle the edge of his memory when his eyes caught the reflection of the morning sun in her necklace. Her silver necklace was shaped like a cocoon with a single ring adorning the top of it. He had one just like it. That sensation, that memory, that was within grasp that seemed to vanish just as fast as the picture came swirling up behind his eyes. It was night time and the two of them were standing on a bridge overlooking the fireworks festivities that were going on. The inescapable feeling of happiness he felt at this memory, the girl’s smile, their warm embrace as her arms wrapped around his neck.

"Your necklace… Where did you get it, Miss…"

Serah turned to face him, surprised that he would take such an interest in her favourite piece of jewelry aside from the earrings she wore of a cat. "Serah, and I dunno. I've always had it with me." She reached up to touch it, feeling that familiar pain in her heart as if something was missing from her life. Her eyes closed briefly as the same memory that her companion had seen swam up to the surface of her memory, only for it to disappear again. The longing of desire, that pang that made her chest ache and her heart swell, came back all too fresh again, and Serah felt like she was forgetting something important. 

"I have one just like it." He reached for the chain around his neck when he heard the sound of the bus drawing near. No, he had to show her. It couldn't be a coincidence they both had the same necklace…. Right?

He took out his necklace from where he was keeping it hidden under his shirt, close to his heart, and watched as Serah's eyes grew large. He wondered if she had the same memory as him. 

"And where did you get yours?"

"Same as you," He said. "I've always had it. I don't know how I got it or who gave it to me. I just know that it's really important."

There was no denying it. She knew right then and there that she was forgetting something and whatever this something was… Well, it tied her to him. She knew, but how could she explain what she knew? Serah nodded. "I know what you mean. Mine is important to me, too. I feel a connection with it - a deep one, but I don't know what. And sometimes,” Her voice faltered just a little as the sight of the bus appeared in the distance. “Sometimes I have this… memory of another life, I guess. I’m at some kind of night time event, and there’s fireworks, but I’m not in the crowd with everyone else. I’m on a bridge far from the others, and,” Her voice trailed off, and she began to twirl a strand of her hair in her fingers. “And you’re there, too. It sounds crazy, doesn't it?" She felt her cheeks redden as she thought of the rest. How happy she had felt and how happy he had been that had resulted in their arms around each other, their two silver cocoon necklaces resting over their hearts and close to each other’s. 

Peeking at her from the corner of his eyes, he knew she was telling the truth. Even his heart knew. There was no way it was some dream either. That memory had felt much too real for it to be the silvery, glittery stuff of dreams. "No, not at all! I feel the same way!” In an attempt to lighten the mood, he flared his nostrils, and continued, “Or maybe we're both just weird."

This made Serah laugh. "Don't be ridiculous! We  **_both_ ** can't be weird." She playfully shoved him.

"What's that supposed to mean? 'We  **_both_ ** can't be weird?'" He crossed his arms and looked her in the eyes, smiling.

She copied him and ended up laughing over how silly it was. The bus soon pulled up to the stop, and Serah stood up.

"Are you coming? Is this your bus?"

He shook his head no.

"I'm waiting for the next one, but I hope we'll see each other again, Serah."

"Me too. It was nice talking to you."

He nodded in response and before she got onto the bus, she remembered, “Hey. You never told me your name.”

“Snow. Snow Villiers.”  _ But you must have already known that - in your heart.  _

That lump in her chest, that pain that had washed away when Snow had made her laugh, it was back again. When he said his name, it brought a rush of familiarity over her.

Serah said goodbye to him again, waved, and got on the bus. She paid her fare and sat near the back, and as the bus rolled away and she took one last look at Snow, a single moment of clarity of the past dawned on her for a second, and she had an epiphany about the real reason she had chosen discovering more about Littus. 

Maybe it wasn’t so strange that this city had no origin. Maybe it wasn’t so strange that she and Snow had the same necklace. If their memories had been seemingly wiped clean, if the tragedies and heartbreak of the past had been forgotten to make way for happier memories, Serah knew she could face the uncertainty of the future and take it head on. Somewhere out there was the truth, all she had to do was find it. 

The windows of the bus were clear, but with a huff of breath, Serah’s fogged up long enough for her to draw ‘S + S’ on it. In those deep forgotten memories of her’s, she felt like she knew all about him.


End file.
